Chapter 9: Famous on the Forums
The adrenaline rush from the exercise with Goku had started to fade, and I could feel the soreness building up in my muscles.
I knew that I wouldn't be able to hunt rabbits, much less the ferocious Biter Sheeps that roamed the wastelands near the Barbarian Village in my current condition. Still, I decided to try my luck and ventured into the Cross Grass Valley, the home to Lv 1 monsters, Biter Sheeps.
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Biter Sheep
Lv 1
Attack: ★☆
Defense: ★☆
HP: 150
Skills: Ramming Charge, Bite
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These demonic sheeps were spread everywhere on the map. I expected the players to hunt these lowest level mobs to extinction, yet the reality was much different.
I had seen more gray lights signifying the deaths of players than white lights that signified level ups. It made me question my decision to hunt on my own in my tired condition. Before I had a chance to ponder a Biter Sheep spawned near my location and engaged in combat.
The Lv 1 monster activated the Ramming Charge and slammed heavily into my back, sending me face first into the ground. Without giving me any respite, it bit into my right shoulder and refused to let it go.
As much as I struggled, my left arm could not reach the Sheep to attack its body. On the other hand, my futile struggles caused the sheep to bite deeper into my shoulder, hurting me even more.
Moreover, those bites of the sheep only became more and more painful causing me to scream with pain. Soon, my HP finally hit 0 and I was logged out of the game.
Never before had I been so happy to die but it was the only way to end my misery. No wonder the Players called those sheep demonic!
Since I had died in game, I could not log in again for the next 30 minutes. So, I decided to take a break and rehydrate myself.
I exited my VR room, my destination the water cooler placed near the lounge in the reception area downstairs.
I fished out two Bezos from my pocket and inserted them in the coin slot on the Water Cooler. The machine immediately poured out a glass of refreshing cool water.
Taking a seat on a couch nearby, I sipped the water in small gulps. At the same time, my attention was drawn to the vending machine placed opposite the couch.
I checked my pockets and found three Musks and four Bezos.
"Maybe I should get a Mars Energy Bar….?"
I mumbled as my stomach growled its assent at the mere thought. As soon as I finished my sentence, a Holographic shop popped up from the armrest of my couch.
A variety of sweets and energy bars were shown on it.
Mars Energy Bar - 2 Musks
Venus Cola Pops - 20 Bezos
Blue Star Candy - 3 Bezos
.
.
The prices made my eyes go wide with shock. I silently closed the shop and cursed, "Why don't you go and rob a bank!"
Compared to outside, the prices were inflated 10 times.
1 Musk was equal to 100 Bezos on Mars. It was enough to buy 5 Mars Energy Bars outside. Yet, they were selling one Mars Energy Bar for 2 Musks a piece inside the VR Complex.
Even the charge for the state-of-the-art VR Rooms was only 10 Bezos per hour!
I cooled my agitation by emptying the tall glass of water in my hands.
"Tsk! There is nothing worth buying other than water here."
I murmured as I brought the glass with me for a refill. Two other young boys had also arrived near the Water Cooler. As I waited for my turn, I could hear their chatter.
"Did you see that clip on the Forums? Someone in the Village #89 cleared the Training Grounds Quest."
The keywords Village #89 and the Training Grounds quest immediately attracted my attention. I closely listened to their gossip as Stivi was also in Barbarian Village #89.
"Nay! I just came out. Who cleared the quest? Was it some Single Digit Ranker or a Godly Martial Expert? Only they possess the qualifications to challenge that monstrous little bastard."
The second boy said with envy as the memory of the punch to his face was refreshed in his mind. He shuddered, and his friend seemed to realize something. He laughed loudly, pointing at his face.
"You tried to challenge him too! Haha! One Hit KO?"
The other guy nodded with slight embarrassment. He tried to change the topic by asking, "So which expert took him down? Was it <Violent Bear> of the Grandeur Guild or <Tai Shan> of the Fortune Guild?"
"It was neither of them. It was some unknown newbie."
"Oh? How lucky for him! The Guilds must be chasing after him to recruit him to their side."
The other boy snorted in disdain.
"Hmph! Why would the Guilds want to recruit a trash that got lucky? The uploader did not even bother to wait and ask him for his name after seeing how abysmal his coordination was…."
The two continued to chat as they walked away from the cooler, and soon the sound of their chatter faded away.
Hmm, interesting. Someone else with poor body coordination cleared the Training Ground Quest?
Intrigued, I opened the forums. The clip they were talking about was pinned at the top. The view count had already reached millions, and thousands of comments were under the clip.
I played the clip and found the scene familiar. As soon as I saw the player in the clip, I only had one thing to say - Fuck!
The player in the clip was, indeed, me.
Since I did not get a chance to meet the Barbarian Chief of my Village, I had no idea which Village I was spawned in.
Thus, this news came as a shock to me and left me dumbfounded. Not only had I become famous on the forums as lucky trash, but it also meant that I was in the same Village as Stivi.
This meant trouble.
Since the clip ended up on the forums, I surmised that my actions in the Training Ground had not gone unnoticed as I had assumed.
This meant double the trouble!
Thankfully, the guilds were not interested in me just yet.
I still had time to level up and find a weapon in preparation for the upcoming troubles. Quickly gulping down the water in my paper glass, I crushed it before tossing it into the garbage chute.
This pocket-friendly, nutritious water helped me recover my energy faster than the over-expensive Mars Bar ever could.
Rested and refreshed, I was ready to enter the game once again
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone